Assembling a VMI legend.

Well, decided to quit beating around the bush (what does that even mean!?) and get going on Stonewall. I've decided to let Jen run the Devil's Brigade painting, she really took to the 15mm scale, so I'll let her decide how to proceed with the FoW stuff, but Stonewall? Stonewall is all me.

So when I opened the box from Verlinden, this is what I was greeted with:

So my first step, as with all figures in all scales, is to dry fit as much together as possible to see any potential problem areas

Taking a step back:

Next comes cleanup. I used modelling snips to clip off the large flash, then a #2 Xacto blade to trim it down further (only using files where absolute smoothness was needed, resin tends to buildup on the file, thanks to friction).

The face is stunning. It is by far the centerpiece to the piece, over stance or detail.

Once I'd gotten the flash cleaned up, I washed all the pieces in warm water with dishsoap. Reason for this being that often with molds, a mold release agent is used to ease removal from the mold. Often this will leave a residue, invisible, but will be noticeable when attempting to apply an initial primer coat, as it may disrupt the binding and can result in what auto painters refer to as "orange peel". On this scale, that would be disastrous. Its best to wash any and all raw models, be they metal, resin or plastic for this reason.

Then, I let the pieces dry.

Mountain Dew. The fuel which drives the entire gaming industry.

SQUEE! it's time for Assembly!

First, I double check my dry fitting, just to be sure again. Then, I use the Xacto to score cross hatches into areas that will be mated together, this gives the glue something much stronger to grasp. In metal minis, I would pin these limbs, but this figure came with tight fitting sockets, so I hope this, combined with cross hatching and good CA glue will be enough. It is now that I realize the legs are extremely uneven, first panic inducing, but in reality the stance of the figure is such that all his weight is on one leg, so the other juts out a bit. While this makes it a little unsteady when free standing, it honestly isnt a big deal once mounted.

I then used that Pin vice at Stonewall's feet to drill a small hold into his right heel. When I mount the figure, a pin will fit nicely into the base to help stabilize the figure onto its base permanently.

The Figure is more or less assembled. His sabre is cleaned up nicely and will be painted separately and added only after all painting is complete. Tomorrow, I'll ensure the bond has taken hold, then its primer time!